Supporting-spider.



A, G. EMERSON.

SUPPORTING SPIDER.

l APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. |915.

lutIntId JIIIII 6, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEETI I IIMMILM 17,.. I .I ...I I:IWIENMWHVMIIII A. G. EMERSON. SUPPORTING SPDER. APPLICATION HLED FEB.9.1915.

Patented Jun@ 6, 1916.

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JMW/M441 ARTHUR G. EMERSON, OF CALPELLA, CALIFORNIA.

SUPPORTING-SPDDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1916.

Application filed February 9, 1915. Serial No. 7,181.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR G. EMERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Calpella, in the county of Mendocino and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supporting-Spiders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This inventionv relates to supporting spiders, the principal object of the invention is to provide a device of simple construction which'can be folded or collapsed to occupy but little space and which can be readily withdrawn and extended to form a support for a table cloth when required to cover a previously set table and to hold the table cloth out of the prepared dishes of edibles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a supporting spider comprising a tubular casing in which a series of radial arms may be normally held within the casing, and may be wit-hdrawn and the arms extended radially to form a support for a table cloth of any desired size and to cover a previously set table having the various dishes thereon, and to support the table cloth or cover over the dishes in such a way as to protect them until the meal is ready to be eaten, said radial arms being connected to a socket member which may be withdrawn from the casing and suspended by a ring for supporting a mosquito bar overv a bed' or baby carriage.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a supporting spider in which a number of radially disposed arms are provided which are extensible to form a support when suspended from a limb of a tree or other support so that a cloth or canvas may be spread over the supporting spider to hang down to the ground and thus provide a compartment to be used by camping parties for dressing and for givin" privacy whenever desired.

The foregoing and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial vertical section of a supporting spider made in accordance with this invention and shown in dotted lines in folded position, Fig. 2

a side elevation of the socket members for the extensible arms, Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the same with the bottom plate removed, Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7*? of Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a supporting base, and connected to the base 1 is a tubular and casing may be made of sheet metal or other suitable material of the required strength and gage. Mounted in the casing 2 is a telescopic member 3, said member being hollow and provided with a vertical slot 4 having lateral branch slots 5 similar to bayonet slots, for a purpose which Will presently appear. Fitted in the upper end of the telescopic member 3 is a socketed plug 6 having a series of radial sockets 7. A plate 8 is secured to the bottom of the socketed plug by means of screws 9. The

casing 2. The base socket 7 extends entirely through the plug 6, as shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6, and the telescopic member 3 is provided vwith coincident slots 10 at the upper end thereof, which communicate with the socket 7. A supporting rod 11 extends down through the plug 6 and at its lower end is provided with a sto nut 12 which prevents the withdrawal of t e supporting rod when it is pulled up to the top of the plate 8. The plug 6 slides in the telescopic member 3, and connected to the socketed plug 6 is a series of radial arms, designated as an entirety by a, said arms, each comprising a tubular member lhaving a ball 14 at one end, said ball being mounted in the socket 7 and a solid extensible member 15 mounted in the tubular member 13 and adapted to be adjusted horizontally after the arms have been withdrawn and thrown down into the position shown in Fig. 1. The member 15 is providedwith a detachable ball 1G at its outer end. As shown, there are six of these` extensible arms mounted in the socketed member, but any suitable number ma)7 be utilized.

Extending through the casing member 2 at a point near its upper end is a set screw 17 which normally extends through the slot tion and the lwithdrawn if desired to extend the arms for 4 in the telescopic member 3, and when the latter is withdrawn partially to one of the horizontal slots 5, by merely turning the telescopic members 3 it may be supported in adjusted position. rfhere may be any suitable number of the branch slots 5 depending upon the purpose for which the device may be employed. The upper end of the supporting rod 11 is provided with a ring b.

The manner of using the device may be brieiy described as follows: lVhen the arms a are thrown up into vertical position they may be pushed down into the casing 1 by carrying the socketed plug 6 down into said casing, and the telescopic members 3 may also be pushed down into the casing 2 after it yhas been turned so that the screw 17 is in alinement with the slot l. When it is desired to use the device for supporting a table cover, it may be placed in the center of the table after the latter has been set and the rod 11 is pulled upward until the member 6 is in its uppermost position, when the arms a may be thrown down into horizontal positelescopic member 15 may be use on a large table. If the device is to be used for supporting a mosquito bar, the stop screw' 17 is withdrawn suiiciently to permit the removal of the telescopic member 3, and the ring b is then connected to the hook in the ceiling or to a hook on a baby carriage, and the mosquito netting is spread out over the telescopic arms and permitted to drop to fully cover the bed or carriage. For supporting a cloth or canvas to make a private compartment while camping, the ring b may be supported from the limb of a tree and the cloth may be spread out over the telescopic arms and permitted to drop to the ground thus making a fairly good size compartment which is fully inclosed.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined inthe claims.

What is claimed is 1. A supporting spider including a base, a tubular casing formed on and. extending upwardly from said base, a stop lug extending through the wall of said casing adjacent its upper open end, a telescopic member mounted in said casing, said member provided in its wall with a longitudinally extending slot to engage said stop lug limiting the upward and downward movement of said member with relation to said casing, a socket plug mounted in said telescopic member, a series of extensible arms mounted in the telescopic member,

the socket member and adapted to be folded upward and carried down into the telescopic member and into the casing when not in use, a supporting rod mounted in the socket plug and provided with a ring at its upper end and a stop nut at its lower end for raising and lowering said socket plug and telescopic member within the casing.

2. A supporting spider including a base, a casing formed integral with and extending upwardly from said base, and a stop lug arranged adjacent the upper open end of said casing. a telescopic member slidably mounted in said casing and having its outer end closed, said closed end provided with a plurality of Aradiating slots opening into the slot at their outer end and the upper end of said telescopic member, said telescopic member also provided with a longitudinal slot in its wall thereof engaging the stop lug in the casing limiting its upward and downward movement, a socket plug slidably mounted in said telescopic member, a plurality of extensible arms mounted in said socket plug and adapted to be folded upwardI and carried downward into the telescopic member and into the casing when not required for use, a supporting rod mounted in the socket plug and provided with ring in its upper end and stop nut in its lower end for raising said socket member in the tetlescopic member so that the arms may be positioned in the slot of the telescopic member extending outwardly in a horizontal plane therefrom, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device of the character set forth, the combination of a casing mounted on a base, a telescopic member havinglits outer end closed slidably mounted in the casing and provided with a vertical slot having lateral branches, astop screw mounted in the casing having its upper end coperating with the slot for holdingv the telescopic member in an adjusted position therein, a socket plug mounted in the telescopic member, a series of extensible arms mounted in the socket member and extending through slots in the telescopic member, said extensible arm comprising a tubular member and a rod member, the rod being mounted to telescope within the tubular member, and means for raising and lowering said socket plug within substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR G. EMERSON.

Witnesses: A

FRANLIN O. SCOTT, HANS TALBo'rr. 

